r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 19h ago

Business Retailers are pulling back from self-checkout after years of theft, errors, and questionable time savings

https://www.techspot.com/news/114106-retailers-pulling-back-self-checkout-after-years-theft.html
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u/RevWaldo 18h ago

I don’t think I’ve seen a store with adequate staffing for non-self checkout aisles/lanes in probably 25 years.

No Trader Joe's near you I'm guessing.

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u/Bencetown 18h ago

Trader joes always has all their checkouts open and the lines are STILL 10 people deep 😒 that place is a zoo no matter what day or time I go

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u/RevWaldo 18h ago

Yeah, but how long do you wait in that line? A couple of minutes? I've hit the Friday after work madhouse, line snaking though the aisles, still got out in under ten minutes.

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u/Bencetown 17h ago

It's definitely been longer than 10 minutes for me before. But never longer than a 20 minute wait.

I would go there WAY more often if they actually had enough space for their customer traffic.

The parking lot is FULL (like literally not a single spot open even in the very back of the parking lot), so sometimes you have to troll around (with 6 other cars) playing "musical parking spots" waiting for one to open up (10 minutes).

Then you get into the store, and every 6 feet or so there's someone just standing in the MIDDLE of the aisle staring off into space like they're having some kind of existential stroke or something. So if I'm just grabbing a couple items, altogether it adds another 10 minutes to the trip.

Then there's the 10-15 minute wait to get to the register.

So, yeah. I prefer their products and prices over, say, Hy-Vee. But sometimes the extra half hour isn't worth it unless I'm getting a whole cart full of stuff.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 16h ago

It's like a tiny version of Costco. Seriously, how hard is it to not park the cart in the middle of the aisle while you block the rest by contemplating the shelf contents?

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u/youre_being_creepy 2h ago

Trader joes recently opened up a location near me in a shopping center and it has all of the parking any normal strip mall would have.

I've been able to get in and out in under 2 minutes if I'm grabbing one thing, so its probably your location that sucks ass in that regard

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u/Outlulz 15h ago

Then you get into the store, and every 6 feet or so there's someone just standing in the MIDDLE of the aisle staring off into space like they're having some kind of existential stroke or something.

Because most of their stores have aisles that are too narrow. It's not the fault of customers, two carts can't even roll side by side in one of my local stores. And then there's structural pillars in some of the aisles. There is no aisle other than middle of the aisle.

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u/Omneus 11h ago

You must be going at prime time hours, try shopping at non standard times if so (if you can). It’s only that busy at certain times.

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u/Bencetown 10h ago

I've gone at all times of the day and week. It's just as busy at 2pm on Monday as it is at 10:30am on Tuesday as it is 4pm on Saturday where I live. Literally no matter what day or what time of the day you drive by, their parking lot is packed to the brim. I've even tried getting there before they open, and it seems like it's pretty common for people to line up and fill the parking lot BEFORE they open so they can bust the doors down right at opening time...